With increasing pressures on nature from climate change and changes in land use across the UK, long-term, consistent species data is of great conservation value. Having a comprehensive bank of species data is essential for informing policy, planning and development, as well as guiding conservation efforts and facilitating scientific research. iRecord is a valuable tool which can be utilised by volunteers, societies and biological recording schemes to contribute and access species data. Last year over 2 million records were submitted to iRecord, with this number growing year on year. Having access to such a tool can help guarantee nature’s recovery through ensuing the evidence is available to appropriately guide decision making and conservation efforts. What is iRecord? Operated by the Biological Records Centre as part of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, iRecord is a free to use website and app, which allows for wildlife observations across all species groups to be submitted and shared. The main goal of iRecord is to bring together wildlife records into a single place, where they can be checked by experts and shared with national recording schemes, Local Environmental Record Centres and the NBN Atlas. How it works iRecord has simplified the submission process for records from all taxonomic groups making it easy for anyone to use. When submitting a record to iRecord, a registered user can use the app or website to record the species (including a photo where possible), location and date, plus information relating to the abundance, life stage, sex, habitat type, and certainty of recognition. The internal maps enable accurate recording of grid references. Volunteer verifiers working on behalf of national recording schemes will use the images to ensure the species have been identified correctly, ensuring the accuracy of the data bank. Observations from a number of partner organisations and their associated projects are also incorporated into iRecord, including the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, Capturing Our Coast and the National Plant Monitoring Scheme to name a few. By bringing together different sources of data, it allows for all records to be found in one location and enables efficient data sharing among the relevant individuals and organisations. The Importance of iRecord Verified and credible biological data is a valuable asset to have in our armoury against the current pressures the environment is facing. Better understanding of changes in species abundance and distribution, both geographically and over time can help to focus and deliver actions for nature recovery. With data made available through the NBN Atlas this information can be easily utilised to inform policy, provide advice to local authorities and influence planning and development. This can encourage and enable a cohesive and evidence-based effort to better protect the natural world and work towards a thriving natural environment. Getting involved Volunteers play an important role in contributing to biological records. If you have an interest and are keen to get involved you can register at https://irecord.org.uk/ and start recording today! Categories Publications